Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering (한국정밀공학회지)

Korean Society for Precision Engineering (한국정밀공학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Experimental Study on Different Principles of Variable Stiffness Actuators

가변강성 액추에이터의 원리에 대한 비교 실험 연구

  • Baek, Kyu Yeol (School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University) ;
  • Kim, HyunGyu (School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University) ;
  • Seo, TaeWon (School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University)
  • 백규열 (영남대학교 기계공학부) ;
  • 김현규 (영남대학교 기계공학부) ;
  • 서태원 (영남대학교 기계공학부)
  • Received : 2015.01.05
  • Accepted : 2015.08.13
  • Published : 2015.12.01
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Nowadays, there are many researches involving structural actuators, which have adjustable stiffness; they are also called variable stiffness actuators (VSA). The VSAs can adjust the characteristics of actuators for various functions and human-machine safety. This paper describes the design and analysis of two types of VSAs. To adjust stiffness, the actuators are controlled by a principle of lever ratio mechanism, by changing a pivot position or a spring position in the structure with springs. To make the principle workable, the designs are simplified by using a ball screw system with a motor. Each structure shows different static properties with variable rates of stiffness. We have also shown the experimental verification of the dynamic performance of the two types of VSAs. This research can be applied to various industrial fields, where humans work in conjunction with robots.

Keywords

References

  1. Jeong, J.-J. and Chang, S.-H., "Design of a Variable-Stiffness Type Safety Joint for Service Robots," J. Korean Soc. Precis. Eng., Vol. 26, No. 5, pp. 128-134, 2009.
  2. Pierrot, F., Dombre, E., Degoulange, E., Urbain, L., Caron, P., et al., "Hippocrate: A Safe Robot Arm for Medical Applications with Force Feedback," Medical Image Analysis, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 285-300, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1361-8415(99)80025-5
  3. Liu, H., Meusel, P., Seitz, N., Willberg, B., Hirzinger, G., et al., "The Modular Multisensory DLR-HIT-Hand," Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol. 42, No. 5, pp. 612-625, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2006.04.013
  4. Jafari, A., Tsagarakis, N. G., Vanderborght, B., and Caldwell, D. G., "A Novel Actuator with Adjustable Stiffness (AWAS)," Proc. of the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 4201-4206, 2010.
  5. Jafari, A., Tsagarakis, N. G., Sardellitti, I., and Caldwell, D. G., "A New Actuator with Adjustable Stiffness Based on a Variable Ratio Lever Mechanism," IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 55-63, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2012.2218615
  6. Cestari, M., Sanz-Merodio, D., Arevalo, J. C., and Garcia, E., "An Adjustable Compliant Joint for Lower-Limb Exoskeletons," IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 889-898, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2014.2324036
  7. Groothuis, S. S., Rusticelli, G., Zucchelli, A., Stramigioli, S., and Carloni, R., "The Variable Stiffness Actuator Vsaut-II: Mechanical Design, Modeling, and Identification," IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 589-597, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2013.2251894